


Nightmares and Strangulation

by shnuffeluv



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo Card [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, F/M, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scratching, Strangulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 21:09:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16103846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/shnuffeluv
Summary: After McGee and Gibbs get back from Paraguay, it takes a little bit of time for everything to go back to normal. Especially when it comes to McGee's sleeping habits.





	Nightmares and Strangulation

_Tim couldn't escape it. No matter how hard he tried, the darkness was always around the corner, one step behind him, ten feet ahead of him. He'd forgotten how long he'd been running in this labyrinth, shoes forgotten in the hallways ages ago. The surface under his feet rocked, constantly, and he knew he was stuck on a ship, no, the ship, the ship back in Paraguay that he could have sworn he had escaped from four days ago._

_Out of nowhere, one of the goons who had taken particular pleasure in playing rough with Gibbs sprang from the darkened shadows, pinning Tim to the wall. Tim lashed out, tried to get away, but his limbs were moving in molasses. The man put a hand around Tim's neck and began to squeeze._

_As Tim thrashed about, trying to suck precious oxygen into his lungs, his hands came up to his throat to tear and claw at the man who was slowly killing him. The man only squeezed harder the more Tim tried to escape, and Tim clawed harder and harder, getting purchase on his own neck but not the hands of the man holding him. The darkness he had been running from was beginning to envelop them both, and Tim wanted to cry out, to scream, to let the man know, "You idiot, we're both going to die if you hold me here!" but no words would come, just a choking noise._

_Spots danced in Tim's vision and he clawed all the more desperately for freedom, until some invisible force yanked his hands away from his neck. Tim could almost make out a voice that sounds vaguely like Delilah's, yelling something unintelligible at him, the only words he could make out being "Wake up!"_

And in an instant, he forced his eyes open and his body upright into a sitting position, and as he looked around, he was in his own bed, in his rented apartment, with his very concerned wife sitting next to him, holding both his arms in a vice. His throat was killing him, and when Delilah saw that he was awake, and she let go of his hands, he tentatively put one up to his neck. It came back red with blood.

"You started thrashing in bed, Tim, and when I turned on the light you were scratching your neck bad enough to draw blood. What in the world were you dreaming about?" Delilah asked.

Tim swallowed, looked down and away and winced as he brought his hands up to his neck again to try and massage the area. "Nothing important, it's over now," he lied. He didn't want her to worry over him of all people. "Go back to sleep, I'll just wash my neck and be back in bed before you know it."

Delilah looked skeptical but turned out the bedroom light and rolled over in bed. Tim stumbled into the ensuite, closed the door, and flicked the light on. He flinched at the suddenness with which it came, like one of his captors slamming the door open to the cell he and Gibbs shared, just to throw in a couple beans or drag them out to torture them both. Internally, he kicked himself and scoffed. It was just a stupid nightmare, he wasn't in Paraguay anymore, he shouldn't be focusing on it every waking moment. He should be enjoying his life, just letting himself live happily.

As he turned up his neck to get a better view, he winced. Droplets of red blood were appearing all up and down on the skin, and bright pink marks dragged down from his chin practically to his collarbone. He had been scratching hard in his sleep. Too hard, it would seem.

He took a washcloth and covered it in warm water, dabbing up the blood and using the water to soothe the stinging sensation. He was terrified of what might happen if he could even fall asleep again after that, if he got stuck in another nightmare and Delilah tried to unsuccessfully stop him. What if he hurt her? What if he hurt the baby? There were too many possibilities and none of them were good.

Walking back into the bedroom, he considered going to the bed but ultimately decided against it, moving to the living room. He paced a bit, to remind himself that he was in an open room, not a cell, and he could move wherever he wanted. Then he grabbed a book randomly off the shelf, turned on a low light and began to read. He wasn't sure what it was about, but it read like one of his textbooks from college, which was never a good sign when it came to entertainment. He wasn't looking for entertainment, however, so he decided to just continue on, as it beat sitting in bed all night, trapped in his head with only his thoughts to keep him company.

Morning came all too soon, and Tim didn't get another wink of sleep. He moved to the kitchen as he heard Delilah stir, so that he could claim to have been making breakfast instead of just staying up the whole night. He doubted Delilah would believe him, but he wanted to at least pretend to save face instead of admitting that he was too scared to sleep in his own bed.

To his vague surprise, Delilah didn't ask him about his sleep after the nightmare. She didn't talk to him much at all, actually, which...yeah, he kinda deserved that. When the doorbell rang he stood and said, "I'll get it," before Delilah had to move.

He opened the door to find Gibbs on the other side, clean-shaven. "Hey, physical's today," he said. "Figured I could give you a ride. What happened to your neck?"

With a wince, Tim shrugged. "Scratched it in my sleep, apparently. I'm fine. Want to come in? It'll only take me a minute to change."

It took everything Tim had in him to not break Gibbs' hand when Gibbs grabbed his wrist after he turned around. "Hey, it's okay to have problems sleeping after what you went through, understand? A nightmare or two doesn't mean you won't pass your psych eval."

Tim gave Gibbs a smile that he didn't really mean and said, "I'll be right out."

As he went into the bedroom to change, he could hear Gibbs and Delilah outside, talking, and he sighed. He just knew he was going to be their next "fix-it project" whether they intended to do it or not. He looked around when he was dressed and snagged a scarf from the closet. He wrapped it around his neck before going out to see Gibbs and Delilah again. After all, the entire world didn't need to know he'd scratched his neck raw in his sleep. No one needed to know that if he got any say in the matter.


End file.
